Here it is folks the first ever Text Adventures give away contest . One lucky reader can take home the PC version of Final Fantasy XI (online MMO only) with 4 expansion packs (monthly fee required). All you need to do is leave a comment under this post for a chance to win.

The contest will run for two weeks, then a randomly selected winner will be drawn. Just make sure to check back to see if you have won. The contest is only open to the residents of the United States (excluding Alaska and Hawaii). The winner will be announced on May 11TH. You will have ONE week to claim your prize after that another winner will be drawn. Good Luck to everyone !

Do you have an Xbox 360, do you have an IPod Touch or IPhone? If you do I would recommend downloading the Inside Xbox 360 app.

The Inside Xbox 360 app (which is the only app endorsed by Microsoft) allows you to keep track of you and your friends gamertags (up to 12 friends). You can also view community news, check out what the latest game and video downloads that are available on the marketplace, watch game trailers linked to YouTube and listen to latest Major Nelson podcast. There are other similar Xbox Live apps available, but I have found this one to be the most comprehensive and fastest. The Inside Xbox 360 app is also available for Blackberries and Windows Mobile Devices.

When you can't help yourself, you just can't help yourself. Today I unexpectedly got the itch to do a little shopping. This time I found a lot of interesting deals, so without further adieu, 'Guess What I Bought Today'!

Tom Clancy's EndWar - Limited Wireless Headset Edition: Here is my deal of the day. Since I purchased H.A.W.X. a few weeks back I had a hankering to complete my next-gen Tom Clancy collection. As I was only missing EndWar I decided today to keep my eyes open for it. When visiting WalMart earlier today I spotted the EndWar headset bundle for only $38! That is a huge deal as the headset itself will run you $60-$70 CDN. So needless to say I grabbed that straight away. So big-up myself on that one. Chalk that up as my deal-of-the-day!

Fallout PC Collection: This is a close second for deal-of-the day. I was able to complete my Fallout game collection today by taking advantage of a promotion over at Good Old Games (gog.com). I picked up Fallout, Fallout 2, and Fallout Tactics for under $15! If you have never been to gog.com before, you should really check it out. They have some fantastic deals on old school PC games. Heck, they will even run on my computer!

The Elder Scrolls III - Morrowind: Here is a blast from the past, I brought Morrowind back into the fold after all these years. I made the mistake though of not buying the Game of the Year edition that contained the expansions. But for $5 who am I to complain. I put quite a few hours in this game back in the day. I am glad to have a copy again just in case I want to head back and do some exploring.

Resident Evil - The Essentials: Now while I owned all three of these games already, I am a stickler for good boxes and manuals. So I returned my unopened Resident Evil Outbreak and traded in my copy of Resident Evil 4. Since this collection was recently reduced, I actually came out $3 ahead. I am about 12 hours along in RE4 so I need to get back to that game soon.

So all in all it was a pretty crazy afternoon. On a related note I also picked up the latest copy of Game Informer which has the Assassin's Creed 2 cover story and I also snagged a free RE5 Limited Edition Laser Cel from the good kids at my local EB.

I was over my buddy Ed’s (Rican Havoc) house today and had a chance to revisit one of the Playstations best racers Sled Storm. You either remember this game or don't. It was one of those games that did well critically as opposed to selling off the charts.

Normally I couldn't see myself going back a generation in hardware to play a game and have a good time, but to go back two generation and find myself having a blast was just amazing !

This game still hold up after all these years. Honestly I though I was playing PS2 game just because I was playing it on a PS2 and forgot that it was older then I thought.

The games controls were just as tight as I remembered and the sense of speed for a game that old was just incredible. And like I said I though I was playing a PS2 game so it still looked pretty damn sweet.

Its just to bad that the sequel wasn't as good. It was put under the “EA BIG” brand and was basically turned into a cheesy SSX rip-off which didn't do the game any justice at all. I highly recommend this game to anyone who can find it that still owns a PS1 or PS2. It was a great trip down memory lane that almost brought a tear to my eye. Oh did I mention that I played Halo 3 multiplayer as well today and enjoyed the living hell out it …A LOT !

With all the talk about Resident Evil as of late I would be remiss if I did not mention RE's survival-horror rival, the oft scarier Silent Hill franchise.

I am not going to just bring Silent Hill up out of the blue, but rather I wanted to quickly mention that there is a new game in the series at work, this time we are going to go back to the beginning. Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is a re-imagining rather than a remake of the First Silent Hill game. I remember nearly ten years ago how I was blown away by the creepy atmosphere in Silent Hill. With an upgrade in technology and some unique advances in how this game will be played (click the below link for more) this may the most interesting instalment in the series in some time.

Now I did mention an upgrade in tech, but here is the kicker, the game will be available on Wii, PS2, and PSP. So you may not get the full HD experience we are used to, but we will get the experience, and it is one for sure I am looking quite forward too.

As I’m sure you may have noticed my other fellow adventurers have been taking a trip down memory lane lately by purchasing PS2’s. This is also kind of mind boggling for me considering that they both always felt like they had more than enough games to play on one console.

Now enter my own need to head back to some gaming of the past. While I wouldn't mind picking a PS2 now that its just 99 bucks, I just know that I wouldn't put to much good use. But wait there's more !

After completing the Resident Evil 5 campaign I’m getting the itch for some more zombie hunting action. Now you see I've played my fair share of R.E. games, but have only completed games 4 and 5 in the series.

So I have this Wii thing that also plays Game Cube games. I knew it was good for something. I figure I have the console now I can go back and try and beat the R.E. game of the past that have gotten the best of me over the years. Now of course I’ll have to buy the Wii dual stick controller and scrape up a Game Cube memory card, but hey I’ve got the Wii already ….might as well put it to good use.

No I didn’t put a gun to my head to try and prevent myself from buying a Playstation 2 again (I apologize for the poor taste :P). Before becoming a so called Xbot, I used to be part of the Sony Defence Force. I had a pretty good collection, but I shed the system and the games to go towards Xbox hardware and games.

I have been waiting for a PS3 price drop, but with none in sight the announcement of a PS2 price drop, Sony pushed me to there older system, which in my opinion and many others in not the Sony console that needed it. My fellow Text Adventurer Superghost recent purchase of a PS2 also made me think more of picking up the console again.

Some of my favorite franchises are from the PS2 days, such as Final Fantasy and Metal Gear Solid, plus there are several titles I have been interested in that I haven’t had the chance to play since moving to the Xbox.

So along with getting the slim, silver PS2, I also picked up Final Fantasy XII, Shadow of the Colossus, Persona 3:FES, Persona 4, God of War, Yakuza 2 and most recently the Metal Gear Solid Essentials.

I haven’t touched many of these games yet, just a bit of God of War and a lot a bit of Persona 3. In a short amount of time I have already accumulated 20+ hours in Persona 3. The social aspects of the game, which I find engaging, but certainly are not for everyone, help to break the more hard-core dungeon crawling. The dungeon crawling is a bit repetitive, but the combat is quick and you can see the enemies on the screen so you can attempt to avoid them.

After tackling Persona 3 I’ll probably move to the MGS titles, which now that I think about I’m going to need a PS1 memory card to play the first Metal Gear Solid :(.

When I and my partners set up the Text Adventure blog, part of its mandate was to explore the games of our collection, be they old or new. Now as part of that vision I am going to start grabbing games from my collection and provide a quick glance at that game as well as adding some personal reflections on that particular title. The first instalment belongs to Dead Rising on the Xbox 360.

Time to take a trip back into my Xbox 360 collection. I have recently been infected with zombie fever! No, I am not turning into an undead monster, but rather I am enjoying the fiction that surrounds the genre of zombie horror. Two and a half years ago (has it been that long already?) Xbox 360 owners were treated to one of the best zombie games ever produced. Dead Rising put you in the shoes of photojournalist Frank West who finds himself in the middle of a zombie outbreak smack dab in the heartland of the United States of America. As a fan of Zack Snyder's recent Dawn of the Dead remake, DR captures the feel of that movie, yet ramps up the number of zombies and madness. The game also does add many humorous elements and also throws in some 'Pokemon Snap' style gameplay for good measure. I have not played DR rising in some time but it is one of the games I need to revisit as to get a better ending than the crappy one I produced. Another reason I would like to play DR again is to beat the game before its recently announced sequal arrives. On a related note, Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop has recently been released on the Wii, but if you have to chose, be sure to play the 360 original. Enjoy this game and eat a brain! Dead Rising...is in my collection!

A little game TormentX and I play while chatting is "Guess what I bought today?" or GWIBT for short. Now with 'GWIBT' more often than not the conversation would centre around video games. Since we at the Text Adventure do not shy away from game and game related purchases, this is our venue to share them with the world. This week was a particularly interesting one for purchases and finds, so without further ado, GWIBT:

The Chronicals of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena: Ever since the Xbox 360 announced that certain games would be backwards-compatible on the system I wished that Chronicals of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay would make the cut. Unfortunatly, due to developer Starbreeze's programming magic, it was all but impossible to make it on the 360. Fortunatly good things come to those who wait, so not only did Starbreeze create an all-new Riddick adventure to the Xbox 360, but they also brought Butcher Bay along for the ride, updated, and on the same disk! For me this wil be one of my Games of the Year just based on the strength of Butcher Bay alone!

Yakuza: This purchase came out of nowhere today. I was poking my head in the used PS2 games at my local EB when low and behold, there was a copy of the first Yakuza, and for $10 no less! This will match nicely with my Yakuza 2 which I recently purchased and wrote about here at Text Adventure

Resident Evil: Outbreak: Another PS2 and Resident Evil game for the collection. The 'Outbreak' games have been increasingly difficult to find in my town since the release of RE5, so when i saw it today, I snagged it! Not in the greatest shape, but beggars can't be chosers.

Chrono Trigger: Last but not least, I picked up Chrono Trigger for my DSi yesterday. I have had an increasing interest in J-RPG's of late, especially now with all the access I have to portable ones on my DSi. I thought Chrono Trigger was a good bet as it doesn't have scads of history surrounding it, plus it is well spoke of amonst gamers and pundints alike. This game too I had dificulty tracking down, but now it is safely in my possesion!

Now that is a pretty good haul for one week, and I didn't even get into my DSi purchase. More on that though when I discuss DSi Ware.

My son Joshua picked himself up a Nintendo DSi this past weekend and I must say its a nice redesign of what was already a nice handheld system. A bigger screen, sturdier feel to it and a camera to. So other then playing the new version of Phantasy Star Online this fall with my buddy SUPERGHOST, I've really had the itch to play Professor Layton and the Curious Village.

Professor Layton is a point and click-puzzler adventure game. The Professor and his side kick Luke have been called in to solve a murder mystery. This done by using simple but yet challenging mini game puzzles to uncover clues.

One thing that really drew me to this game other then solving a crime was the European art style. The old world look just adds to its beauty. I think I’ll be picking this game up shortly. For now I was able to try a demo of the game at its official website which you can find the link to below.

I know this game has been out for a bit and I'm late to the party here, but its been on my mind for a while now and after playing the demo I’m totally in.

The Settlers of Catan is probably one of the most popular, award winning games of the German style. German style board games are defined as follows:

a broad class of games that generally have simple rules, short to medium playing times, high levels of player interaction, and attractive physical components.[1] The games emphasise strategy, downplay luck and conflict, lean towards economic rather than military themes, and usually keep all the players in the game until it ends. German-style games are sometimes contrasted with American-style games, which generally involve more luck, conflict, and drama. (Source Wikipedia).

Other popular German style board games include Carcassonne and Puerto Rico.

In The Settlers of Catan the goal is for the player (3 to 4 players, up to six with expansions) to score 10 points by building settlements (1 point) or cities (2 points). Additional points can also be acquired by having the longest road (roads connect settlements and cities), largest army (playing Knight cards) or acquiring victory point cards.

To build cities, settlements, roads or to buy development cards, the player must have the correct resource cards , which consist of wheat, brick, wood, ore and sheep (To build a settlement you must one of each of the following: wood, sheep, brick and wheat). You obtain resources by having cities and settlements adjacent to to resource hexes. Each resource hex has a number on it, which range from 2 to 12. Generally, it’s best to place settlements and cities (cities provide 2 resource cards) adjacent to hexes with numbers that provide better odds of being rolled (5,6,8,9).

Placement of settlements is critical to insure you have good range of resources as well as numbers. Resources can also be traded between players. Another element of the game is the robber, which is moved when a player roles a 7 (If you have more then 7 cards when a 7 is rolled you lose half of them as well. When the robber is placed on a hex, it blocks resource production from that hex until another 7 is rolled or when it is moved by a Knight card. Getting blocked by others at critical times can be pretty infuriating.

In my group of friends. Settlers of Catan has proved to very popular, between men and women alike. Friday’s at work a group of us play at lunch as well. Needless to say the game can be pretty addictive. Settlers provides good balance of luck and strategy.

The Settlers of Catan can also be found on the PC as well as Xbox Live Arcade. Catan, the XBLA version is very solid, providing challenging A.I. and online play. If someone is looking to play some games online send me a message!

Today was a highly anticipated day for me as I anxiously awaited the arrival of my brand new Nintendo DSi. In a nutshell the improved sleek design is in my opinion a dramatic overall improvement over the last DS, not so much in its esthetic, but rather its functionality. The DS has now caught up to its gaming counterparts, and surpassed them in some ways, with the addition of 2 cameras, SD card support, an online store, music player, and a streamlined interface. At the end of the day it still is a Nintendo DS (minus the GBA back-compat support), but it is the best DS you can buy.

I once owned an original Nintendo DS (the 'fat' one), and when I did I jumped through all of Nintendo's online hoops that they had set up at the time. Fast forward a few years later with my new DSi in hand, and I decide to see what is the current state of their websites. Even though I had not logged on in years it still retained my account which I originally signed up for December 17, 2005! All of my account info was there, but now it has been transferred to there latest online portal, Club Nintendo.

So what is the deal with Club Nintendo? When you purchase Nintendo goods, you earn 'coins' which can be redeemed for neat Nintendo prizes! For me this is Nintendo's counterpart to Microsoft's Gamerscore. By registering my DSi I earned a pile of coins, I also earned for all the registrations I signed up for my first time a round with the DS. At the end of the day I am near 'Gold' status which will earn myself some sort of prize. My next purchase will put me over the top. A dangerous thing I see these coins being.

All in all it was an interesting Nintendo day. After all my previous Nintendo history of the SNES, N64, GameBoy, DS, and now the DSi, I will see if I can make Nintendo stick around my house for a while. After all, I have some coins to earn!

Bethesda has a funny way of celebrating April Fools. Here is the excerpt from The Elder Scrolls website:

04.01.09 - OBLIVION 360 DLC ON SALE (MOST OF IT, ANYWAY) In celebration of the arrival of April, the wackiness of April Fool’s Day, and the upcoming 3rd anniversary of the release of Horse Armor (Friday, April 3), we are pleased to announce that for the next week (through April 7) all Oblivion DLC for Xbox 360 is half price, except for Horse Armor, which is twice as much as usual.

Nice! So I picked up all the DLC that I didn't already own including Knights of the Nine pack. I had to skip on the Horse Armor this time (I wonder if anyone will bite on the increased price?) but who knows, perhaps when it goes on sale...

Between Oblivion and now Fallout 3 I have spent 160+ hours between the two games. With these DLC purchases and the Shivering Isles expansion, I really have to go back and continue my adventures and gather achievements in the province of Cyrodiil

Its hard these days to get by without using some sort of techno gadget. It doesn't matter if your using a GPS to get some place, a MP3 player for music or cell phone or digital camera to snap a shot of life's most precious moments.

Most everyone has some sort of little gadget that they carry with them most of the time. Myself it happens to be my iTouch. I love taking it to the gym for music, sitting back for some ten minuet gaming sessions and falling asleep with it while listening to podcasts.

Lately though I've found another use for my iTouch. As I'm sure most of you know the iPhone and iTouch have an incredible amount of apps to choose from. Well over the last 6 months I've taken a turn for the better when it comes to my health and have been using the Weight Watchers program to shed some pounds.

Well I found a great app for only $0.99 that lets me track my food all day and log my points as well ! Its called iWatchr. It also has the wonderful points calculator built in which lets me find out the point value of food while on the go or even if I'm out food shopping so that I can make a smarter choice when buying food.

You see it doesn't have to be all fun and games with today's latest technology. It can be about being a better you as well.